Courtney and David

How We Met

David and I were set up on a blind date just about three years ago. Both of our jobs had brought us to El Paso, Texas at the time and I don’t think either of us ever thought we would find someone there. He is from Rochester, NY and I am from Houston, Texas. Little did we know we had both been brought there to find each other. We had our first blind date on May 29, 2015, and never looked back. I was a local news reporter in El Paso and he was a football coach at UTEP and was also getting his Master’s Degree at the time. After a little over a year of being together, David moved to Atlanta and I stayed behind in El Paso finishing up my contract as a reporter there. Shortly after, I took a job as a reporter in Austin, Texas (a big step for my career). We did the long-distance thing for about ten months up until my best friend of 22 years died tragically and unexpectedly. David quit his job an moved to Austin, Texas to be there for me and start our lives together. We’ve never been happier than we have been this past year in Austin. We got our own condo together and have been really into working out and traveling whenever we get the chance. There’s no one else I would ever want to do life with. I feel so lucky.

how they asked

David’s niece had her first communion on Mother’s Day weekend in Austin. One of his three sisters lives in Austin and his other two sisters and parents who live in Rochester, NY planned to come down for the occasion. David is her Godfather and since we had to be in Austin for that, my parents who are back in Houston, said they wanted to come here so we could all spend Mother’s day together. My brother and his girlfriend also planned to be in Austin that weekend and it would be the first time mine and David’s family would meet after being together for nearly three years. Little did I know, David had snuck down to Houston about a month before and gotten the ring my grandmother left for me when she passed in 2016. He and his sister took the ring to a jeweler in Georgetown, TX and designed the most perfect engagement ring I could ever imagine.

It turns out on that secret trip to Houston, David had also asked my parents and brother to come so they could be here for the proposal. On Saturday, May 12, they told me we had dinner reservations at a really nice spot called Caroline’s on South Congress Ave. in downtown Austin, so I got all dressed up. When we all got to South Congress, we started taking turns taking photos at the iconic “I Love You So Much” mural.

My parents have been married for 32 years and David’s parents have been married for 35 years so the four of them went first taking a picture in front of the wall and of course, then I wanted one with David.

When we stepped up to the mural for our turn I could feel his heart beating out of his chest. That’s when he turned to me and I completely lost it. It was the moment I’ve been waiting for since our first date. It was everything I could’ve imagined and more. Both of our families were there to witness the beautiful moment and celebrate that night and the rest of the weekend. I can’t wait to marry this man!